The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1887-09-01
HOOKING A TROUT.
Vivid Description of an Experience Dear
to an Anglers Heart.

10 MI
After fifteen minutes wading heard
the roar of a cataract-an unusually
good sized one judged by the roar of
the waters. Presently | came in sight
of it. 1t was magnificent fall of full
twenty feet, the waters leaping down
sheer face of rock, and plunging into
q basin ten or twelve feet in width.
There was dense growth of spruce
about the pool, and hemlock and
spruce, with stunted underground,
hung over the edge of the precipitous
rock. 1t was romantic spot, dark,
overshadowed and cool. AS 1 ap-
preached the basin cautiously and pre-
pared to make a cast, | said to myself:
There is the very hole for monster
trout" With extreme care / made my
preparation, selecting the exact spot
where l would east, and got every
thing in readiness in case there should
be a rise.
There was a rise! have never seen
lure taken by brook trout so mag
nifcently. The fly had not even as
yet touched the dark surface of the
pool, when there was a flash like a
CLEAN of light, and superb trout
broke the surface, making that inde-
scribably graceful arch which every
angler can so vividly picture to him
self, and seized the fly as it settled on
the water. | struck almost instanta-
neously with the appearance OF the
trout, and none too quick, so rapid
was the rise.
Then ensued battle in the forest
a struggle fifty framed in by the dark
spruces and the somber hemlocks.
The trout made rush for the depths
of the pool, and l prudently let him
have all the line had to spare. The
reel buzzed quite sharply for a mo-
ment, then there came little Sack,
which | took in Immediately. For the
next half minute there was an expect
ant and significant pause on the part
of both the trout and myself But not
for long. / took step forward, and
there was rush up through the crys-
tai basin that fairly heard above the
roar of the waterfall. Cutting the sur
face obiquely, the trout leaped full
two feet from the water. If there had
been sunlight in that dark nook, how
his sides would have flashed! As it
was | could see the red nothing and
the silver CLEAN of the under scales.
The slackened tackle hung around him
like lot of twisted wire. In midair
the trout shook himself; then he came
down slap on the water, and | thought
surely my prize was gone. I.eXpected
nothing less than to find that he had
shaken the hook from his jaws. But
noi Rapidly reeling in the silk, |
81, I,I
struck hard, and the barbed tip was
well seated.
Then the trout made the pool boil.
How he flashed around it, and how the
line cut the water like swift travel
| ing knife! | kept taut line, for |
knew that such tactics as these would
prove more destructive to the strength
of the fish than to my tackle. The
trout seemed to realize this, too, after
a time, for he ceased his furious and
purposeless struggles and began to
-nda TI-t1 L hnor-, tho critical
tirGo--or rather the eve of the critical
time-and | made ready for the quick
maneuver that was sure to follow. 1t
came with q suddenness that almost
spoiled my calculations. Instead of
shooting perpendicularly to the sur
face, as | expected, the trout darted
straight at me, keeping at consider
able depth. | had but little line out,
and the tip of my rod bent like the let
ter G. All this transpired in about
half a second of time, and if | had not
presence of mind enough to lower the
point Of the rod doubt if even Chubb's
lancewood would have stood the strain.
At the lowering of the tip, however,
and the paying out of more line the
trout changhd its tactics. Now it was
that he darted to the surface with the
speed of rocket, and finging himself
with all his strength from the water,
made a last grand effort to shake the
hook from his Jaws. If it had not
been deeply bedded in the gristle it
certainly would not have held, for a
better executed maneuver 1 never saw
on the part of any game fish. But
when | quickly reeled in my slack, and
found that the hook was still held fast,
l knew that the trout was mine. 1t
was only a question of time. My
heart gave great bound of exultation
at this discovery, for if l ever ardently
desired to possess trout it was the
monarch of'that pool.
My victim now became restless and
lashed the water violently, anon dart
ing around the basin, and using up his
strength in the most restless manner.
Pretty soon he became so exhausted
that he lay still near the center of the
pool, and as the water Gained l could
see the magnificent follow outlined
against the gravelly bottom. He
looked fully foot long-and this is
moderate statement for fisherman to
make. Time was when should have
said two feet and half at the least.
But | was less experienced then and
also less veracious.
Gradually l coaxed the tired trout
toward the edge of the BASIN He
made no fight, simply hung back and
padded simply with his fins. Kneeling
down at the edge of the water, with
rod held high above my head and as
far back as | could reach, | slowly
dipped my landing net, and before my
victim knew it the meshes had passed
behind and around him, and he was
EMBODIED in their tolls. Then l leaped
up with wild shout of triumph and
swept the net with the struggling fish
into my eager grasp. Firmly l took
my prize beneath the gills and held
him un before my face. 1.-TWO poundsp
three pounds?" i asked myself. What
should / say? There is the solemn
wildness, alone with the forest and the
brook, | faced the great question of
moral rectitude and deliberately re-
solved that / should call my trout q
three-pounder- american Angler.